Bingo1961 said:Questions about starting zinnia seeds. This is my first time trying to grow anything from seeds. I have the Ferry-Morse 72-cell seed tray with the peat pellets.
Hi Bingo,
Welcome to the National Gardening Association and these Forums.
" Should i use one seed or more per pellet pod? "
If you have a surplus of seeds, or if you think you may get poor germination, then yes.
" If i use 2 seeds per pod and both come up, can i leave them both or clip one off? "
Leaving both or clipping one is up to you. I plant my zinnias in 3.25-inch pots, which give them considerably more root space than your "pellet pods", so with older seed I plant more than one per pot. For seed that is several years old, I plant as many as 4 or even 5 per pot. If I think I have too many in a pot, I keep only the best looking seedlings and snip the rest.
" Should i use a heat mat or not? "
Probably. My basement utility room has no vents from our furnace and runs cool in cold weather, so I use heat mats for all my zinnia seeds.
" I was thinking about getting 2 Sansi 15w grow lights for these and some jiffy 3" pots. "
That's not a lot of light, and a zinnia seedling can become rootbound fairly quickly in a 3-inch pot, particularly if there is more than one seedling per 3-inch pot. When do you think you will be setting your zinnia seedlings outdoors?
These are photos of some of my zinnia seedlings in 3.25-inch pots.
Many of my pots do have more than one seedling, and sometimes I let them come into bloom before culling the less desirable specimens. Zinnia breeding is a hobby of mine.
ZM
